Editorial: Even If You Don't Like Him, Roman Reigns Deserves Better

I know I'm biased; I'm still a fan of Roman Reigns. He doesn't have the mic skills of a Miz or a Braun Strowman, as versatile a wrestler as a Seth Rollins or an AJ Styles, just as good looking as a Finn Balor or a Mustafa Ali or as strong a character as a Dean Ambrose or a Rusev. I do admire Reigns for being able to hold it together despite the vitriol from the fans and internet to the one side and some odd business of the office on the other. If it was just the fans that were jerking him around, that's fuel. When the office starts jerking you around, it gets frustrating.

The tale starts at the Elimination Chamber. After Roman Reigns beats Braun Strowman to be the last man standing in the Chamber. He called this shot, and the internet rolled its collective eyes that not only did he say it, but he did it. Instead of staying strong in his victory, he is immediately attacked by Strowman and gets put through a pod by Strowman's running powerslam. This could be seen as seeds for a feud down the road, but that was only if Wrestlemania would pay off. Roman was getting his one-on-one rematch against Lesnar without any signs of someone interfering (Seth at WM31, "Uncle Paul" typically a non-factor) and that he could finally bring the Universal title back to TV where it belonged, and could feud with Strowman, Samoa Joe(pre-shakeup), and a host of others that should be above the IC Title level at this point, like Seth Rollins, Finn Balor and the Miz.

You don't have to be psychic or that deep of a wrestling fan to know that Brock Lesnar doesn't give a damn about the WWE, the people who work there and more importantly, the people who pay the money to go see him. He arrives at the arena minutes before his segment starts (full-timers have been in the building since the early afternoon), goes out, lets "Uncle Paul" do all the talking anyway while he stands there looking smug, then leaves the arena (in WWE, you stay 'til the show's over; in the independents, it's courtesy to stay for teardown unless you have other commitments).

Based on this behavior (and the fact WWE justifies it by paying him), it's a good decision from both sides of the guardrail to make Roman look like an equal to Lesnar throughout the build for WrestleMania and when he beats Brock Lesnar, he becomes this badass who slayed the Beast and see him off to UFC where he can get beat up by Allister Overeem again. I can actually HEAR the internet rolling its eyes; "Let's get this over with," the typical response. I would think that the internet could at least tolerate Roman as a champion that puts the belt back on television, and not the histrionic rhetoric of his 999th "Coronation" since he's main evented 3 WMs prior. Three different matches, mind you:

-WM31, vs. Lesnar. Everyone remembers the amazing ending of Rollins' cash-in; people forget how equal Lesnar and Roman were in the match and the scene of a bloodied Roman Reigns laughing at Lesnar because Lesnar kept punching a Samoan in the head!

-WM32, vs. HHH. WWE made a huge mistake here in making Reigns an "underdog" that should have been a badass v badass feud. At least Reigns was allowed to look strong during the buildup and the match was very even.

-WM33, defeating the Undertaker. Everyone can stop putting any importance on this since Taker came back to shut Veteran Brat John Cena up. The match wasn't one of Taker's better outings, either.

During the buildup to WM34, Roman comments that Brock is "Vince's boy". While true, Roman is also Vince's Boy and enjoys similar perks and privileges that Brock has. BUT, Roman does show up every night, works house shows, does media tours and moves merch like nobody's business. Love him or hate him, he gets his reps in. Miz gained a lot of fans in recent years because he does everything and sticks to his heel persona; CM Punk did most of these things and could do it face or heel. Brock Lesnar doesn't have to do any of those things and that's not only a bad message back to Roman, but it's a message to the locker room that your dedication to your craft doesn't mean anything compared to this part-timer who used UFC for leverage when contract negotiations were going on.

When the internet sees Roman trying to act like he isn't WWE's chosen, the audience rolls their eyes and just waits for both of them to get to WrestleMania and beat each other's brains in. What also doesn't help Roman's cause is that when Brock is there, he murders Roman or always gets the upper hand on Roman. This is made apparent when Brock brutalized Roman with the chair when he was handcuffed at the go-home RAW, Roman gets some licks in, but eats an F5 and Roman is left laying on the canvas.

Now by the unwritten rules of Momentum, even with Roman getting stomped that bad means that he should be able to rise up and tear Lesnar to pieces. Those that still cared about this match at least wanted to see that, right? I don't know of any one who thinks the Universal Title's value goes up by sitting someplace in a cabin in Nowhere, Canada. So this should have been it. This should have been a battle for the ages, a reprise of WM31, Roman bloodied and laughing because he's taken so many beatings from Lesnar that he's used to the pain and is more than ready to respond in kind!

What did we get? It was a HORRIBLE match with Brock just doing Germans and F5s and Roman just doing Superman Punches, Spears and Drive Bys. To make matters worse, the notion going on was that Roman was winning to take the title off Brock Lesnar. But since Brock played the "I'm Going to UFC" card, Vince acquiesced and renewed his contract, once again paying a part-timer more than he's worth (and thinking that UFC could get another dime or dollar out of Brock short of a stunt match with CM Punk).

They had the Wrestlemania moment right in front of them: Lesnar had managed to bust a Samoan's head open, and Roman was breaking the Muta meter. This is where ALL that rage, ALL That frustration and ALL the bullshit that Roman's been through regarding Lesnar should have turned into an epic beatdown (Remember when Roman flipped out on HHH and beat him up for 10 minutes?). It was RIGHT THERE. This was the moment. Even if the internet moaned and groaned about it, they would have to respect that MOMENT when Reigns is glaring at Lesnar, face soaked in blood. That visual is NOT wasted on someone who is going to lose a match.

After Mania, we all figured that the apology would come at Greatest Royal Rumble with their rematch in a cage. Here, Roman should have once again erupted and snarl out his "plans" for Brock while they're in the cage. But instead Roman is made to give this whiny promo about how "he wasn't smartened up" to what was going on. I THINK I know what they were trying for here – Roman was supposed to lean on the fourth wall with the news of Brock re-signing with WWE and not going back to UFC. Instead, having that and the frustrations behind the scenes caused a Shockmaster-level fall through the fourth wall, almost openly admitted the finish of a match is pre-planned Yes, I know matches are predetermined, but you don't say that out loud, even when trying to garble it in wrestlespeak.

Fast-forward to the Greatest Royal Rumble, where Brock botched the finish and didn't get his feet off the cage first, so senior ref Chad Patton was made to look like an absolute idiot. Roman clearly won that match, but Kurt Angle supposedly rules "the ref's decision is final". That's out of character for the passionate Angle; if he was watching this match would have reversed the decision right then and there, or on Raw the following night. Now, all the whining comes to a head and now he's claiming to be the Uncrowned Universal Champion when he clearly won the match. If they commented that one of Roman's feet were on the apron, it MIGHT skirt it.

In the span of a couple months, Vince has cut Roman off at the knees. As reported by multiple sites, Roman Reigns is a merch seller and can put on good matches, especially with someone who truly cares about the presentation of the product. Not only that, if you listen to a lot of his interviews outside of WWE, he's quite personable and has the star power around him. Instead, Vince put him in a no-win situation by yanking the Big Dog's chain around. If Roman was truly "Vince's boy", there would be a more positive resolution to the situation and Roman wouldn't have to sound like a whiner and a spoiled child, which is more befitting of current Lesnar than the hard-working Roman.

I feel sorry for Roman as he's been put in almost impossible situations with some of the worst booking, worst promos to have to cut, worst opponents for his style, and to top it all off, his biggest fan turning on him to fuel a petty erasure of 0-1 UFC Fighter CM Punk and his 434 day reign as champion, the longest in years. Roman claims to have some creative input but if he does, Lesnar's overrules it 100%.

Congratulations, Vince. Thanks to these last couple of months, many fans will not only turn on Roman, but on the product itself. You got Cena 2.0, but not with the charisma, power and appeal that Cena originally had in 2005. If he's truly "Your boy", Vince, you've got some explaining to do.